Day 4 already

Good evening everyone, it's thundering and lightening outside, thankfully as it has brought down the humidity! Last night we had a fascinating evening as we met a couple from Alberta who moved down to Bolivia about 8 years ago to help the people there develop farming techniques that do not rely on machinery and are sustainable. They shared with us many of their experiences coming to Latin America and taught us much about the people and culture here. They are in Nicaragua to see how they might help here and to explore where God might be leading them next. We gained a great deal of insight into why some things are the way they are here. We are also being challenged about our own culture, the strengths of it and the weaknesses we often don't think about. We are being encouraged not to feel guilty about living where we do and having what we have in comparison to the people here as God has placed us where we are and the people of Nicaragua here, but we are being challenged to think of what our responsibilities might be! A lot of heart stuff and thinking going on!! -Jake

Today was a busy day. We visited an organic farm which was interesting but very annoying to be swarmed by flies. In the afternoon we went to 'Treasures of God' which is a centre for kids and youth with disabilties, mostly physical. It was very shocking and sad to see these children laying down looking very lifeless. We did alot of sensory exercises with them and simply sat beside them. I will let a few of the other girls share their experience.
-Anya (love you Mom and Dad)

Today was a long day. I'm super sunburn so that makes everything a little less enjoyable! In the morning we took a really long and bumpy car ride to an organic farm. I really had to pee and when we got there, there were bats all over the bathroom. It was a terrifying experience. At the farm there were lots of bugs but the animals there were kind of cool. I never knew how big pigs were and its unbelievable! After lunch we went to Treasures of God to interact with the disable children and their mothers. It was shocking to learn some of the kid's stories and how the center works. Besides the bugs it was a good day!
- Katherine (love you Mommy!)

I peed in a bathroom with bats this morning. I never thought I'd say that but it happened. Besides that and all the terrible feces smells from the farm this morning, today was a really good day for me. In the afternoon, as the other girls have mentioned, we had the opportunity to go back to Treasures of God. the first time we went (on Tuesday), Michelle the director was super busy so we mostly felt like we were in the way and we didnt really get the chance to interact with the children which was something I had been looking forward to. This time we each got to interact one on one with a disabled child. At first I had the opportunnity to do stimulation exercises with one of the children. It was very obvious that he was both physically and mentally disabled. I started to get emotional while doing the exercises but didnt want to cry in front of his mother because I recognized that this was something she had to deal with on a daily basis. I then moved on to a little girl named alysia. She was so adorable but was unable to really communicate and had developmental problems. I quickly figured out that she loved getting her hands rubbed and calmed down when I did that. Afterwards, Katherine, Pastor Jake, my mother and I talked to Michelle about all the different kids and what their specific needs, challenges and disabilities were. It was then that I found out that the first boy I had been doing the stimulation exercises with at the begining of the day was born a 'normal' and healthy baby boy. When he was six years old he was running home in the rain and was hit by an electrical wire and got electricuted. He is now 15 years old and the past 9 years of his life have been completely different from his first 6. After hearing all of this I had to excuse myself to the bathroom because my inital emotional feelings that I experienced earlier on in the day came back. I couldnt imagine how it felt for his mother to one day have a completely normal child to now having a fifteen year old that can't walk, talk, feed himself or communicate with others around him. Overall this day was really challenging for me but I'm really glad I was able to see what michelle was doing for all these kids and their families.
-Annelies
p.s love you papa

So this is what happened today and how the different members of our team have experienced the events of the day. We've met some amazing people this week: Blanca, Lennin, Lester, Michelle, and more; others have touched our hearts, I've met a little girl Angie I want to take home :). Please keep us in your prayers and feel free to leave comments as we would love to hear what you are thinking as we serve, learn and experience being in a different culture far from home, thank you--Jake